WalMart is still the '800 pound gorilla next door' after Kroger leaves

The property manager for Sunset Hills, Mo. - based Lindbergh Watson, which manages and maintains the Southtowne Shopping Center in Du Quoin, believes "there's a tenant for every vacancy" if the Kroger Co. closes its Du Quoin store March 23 and that the space will be filled.

But, there's nothing easy about it, says John Hunzeker, a gifted career property manager who reloaded the west end of the Southtowne Shopping Center after WalMart closed its original store there years ago. It just takes time.

"I don't think it will be a national retailer like the Kroger Co.,"said Hunzeker." Kroger has been great." He added, "This is an important part of our portfolio," assuring the town he will do everything possible to identify a new tenant.

He asked if the cost of labor could have been an issue for the store.

"It may take someone with a different cost structure."

"Let's not forget the 800 pound gorilla next door," he said in reference to WalMart's competitiveness in the marketplace.

He said Kroger's fresh meats and attention to customers were important to Du Quoin.

The cost of an experienced work force at the Du Quoin Kroger store and shortfalls in revenue targets apparently contributed to this week's decision to close the store after decades.

It's not about the cost of leasing the space in the Southtowne Shopping Center from Lindbergh Watson. In fact, the newspaper understands the lease agreement was very fair.

"We hate this, but it's all about the numbers," a Kroger spokeswoman said privately.

City of Du Quoin personnel have already contacted the company and there is apparently no turning back, given the size of the losses, expected to be even larger in the coming year if the store were to stay open.

The closure of a Kroger store is so rare that no one at Kroger could give us any idea as to what grocery or pharmacy might be interested in taking over this kind of space.

"We don't have enough of a history of this to be able to help," said one spokesman. "I'm sorry."

The 60 full-time employees at the Du Quoin Kroger store and of Kroger stores in Southern Illinois work under a collective bargaining agreement that has grown pricey as the company's footprint in southern Illinois gets larger--and older.

Du Quoin economic development director Jeff Ashauer said all of the city's resources are at the disposal of the store and its employees, but admits that if the projected $600,000 annual losses are accurate there's nothing easy about any of this. A great deal of behind-the-scenes conversation is in play 48 hours into the closure announcement.

The store is scheduled to close on or about March 23.